State TV says Iran foiled cyberattacks on public services

TEHRAN (AP): Iran’s state television said authorities have foiled massive cyberattacks that sought to target public services, both government and privately owned.

The report late on Sunday said Iran thwarted the attacks that planned to target the infrastructure of more than 100 public sector agencies. It did not elaborate or name specific examples of public sector agencies, organizations or services but said the incidents happened in recent days.

The report said that unidentified parties behind the cyberattacks used Internet Protocols in the Netherlands, Britain and the United States to stage the attacks.

Iran occasionally announces cyberattacks targeting the Islamic Republic as world powers struggle to revive a tattered nuclear deal with Tehran.

In October, an assault on Iran’s fuel distribution system paralyzed gas stations nationwide, leading to long lines of angry motorists stranded in long lines and unable to get subsidized fuel for days. In July, a cyberattack on Iran’s railway system caused chaos and train delays.

Iran disconnected much of its government infrastructure from the Internet after the Stuxnet computer virus — widely believed to be a joint US-Israeli creation — disrupted Iranian centrifuges in the country’s nuclear sites in the late 2000s.